American Association of Medical Audit Specialists

CCFA-Certified Clinical Financial Auditor
Frequently Asked Questions

• Q: What criteria was used to create the test questions? 
  • A: The exam is based on the current job force of AAMAS membership.
• Q: What can I study to prepare myself for the CCFA exam?
  • A: A study course will be offered at the an AAMAS conference.  You may also begin early preparation by reviewing areas such as hospital finance, accounting, basic coding and billing along with regulatory and legislative policy.
• Q: Why are 30 CEU’s required to renew rather than CMAS’s 24?
  • A: AAMAS has mirrored the state nursing CEU requirements and are also accepting 15 nursing CEUs toward CCFA renewal. The remaining 15 CEUs can be obtained through conference and/or other approved sources including free webinars.
• Q: Can I keep both certifications? How does this work if I grandfather to CCFA?
  • A: Yes, you can keep both certifications. To keep both certifications, you would need to apply for renewal separately for both certifications. At this time CMAS will remain renewable through CCMA website. CCFA will be reached through a link on the AAMAS website. Your CEUs could be used for both – just as they currently are for nursing, coding and CMAS.
• Q: Wasn’t CMAS previously under AAMAS? We were told the association itself couldn’t/shouldn’t also administer the certification exam? Why did this happen?
  • A:  Yes, CMAS had oversight of AAMAS for many years. A previous Board made the decision to reorganize mainly to attract members from other organizations like AAPC, NAAMAS, etc. but this did not happen. Most professional organizations have oversight of their own certification exams such as HCCA, AAPC, etc. Therefore, AAMAS created the new exam and will retain oversight. In addition, the current Board believes the loss of certification oversight has had a negative impact both on AAMAS and the certification process.
    • AAMAS would like to provide education but cannot do so because they are not given access to CMAS’s exam content.
    • It is beneficial to new members because AAMAS will provide classes for certification and offer specialty certification.
    • AAMAS cannot monitor when/if the CMAS exam has been updated; what is added or deleted. The healthcare world changes quickly and updates to both the pre-certification education and the exam will be made on an ongoing basis to adjust to these changes.
    • The desire to become a certified auditor is often the reason auditors come to the conferences and why they become AAMAS members. This relationship is beneficial as AAMAS encourages networking, mentoring and education through the conferences and future webinars.
• Q: What happens to the CCFA credential if AAMAS no longer exists?
  • A: AAMAS would remain as a certification board over the CCFA certification and education only.
• Q: Please contact me with essential information to take the class and exam. 
  • A: The application for the CCFA exam can be found on the AAMAS website under the link for certification.

Should you have any questions,
Please contact:  Courtney Harris, AAMAS Account Manager, at c.harris@aamas.org